Squad car in front of the school's playground
This will be a short non-labor related diary.
On Thursday of last week my son's school was locked down due to a threat by a parent engaged in a custody battle. The parent now has four felony charges against him. He will likely be out on bail later today.
Tomorrow my son's school will have armed guards. We still do not know what threat was made (The rumor is that the idiot in question called the school and said that if he can't have his kids no one can, I have been unable to confirm this rumor as the school will not say what the threat is) - this is obviously more than just a "precaution."
I am not sure yet if I want my son to attend school while there are armed guards there (I have visions of a firefight on the playground with kids caught in the crossfire).
I also feel that this a symptom of a much larger problem - firearms are far to accessible in this country. High capacity magazines are far to accessible in the country. There is really nothing stopping this guy from getting out on bail and looking through the classifieds for firearms. He can easily get one without a background check. Our gun culture needs to change. There should never be a reason for firearms to be in our schools.
10:42 AM PT: Just heard from the school, they are expecting him to make bail with GPS monitoring and a firearms restriction as well as a restraining order to stay away from the school.
Armed private security will be in place 7:30 AM to 6:00 PM Monday through Friday.
This is the world we live in today and it is a pretty damn sad statement on our society as a whole. Guns have no place being in a school; however, those that scream that their right to have free and unfettered access to firearms forget that our children should free and unfettered access to a childhood where they don't need to fear being shot.